Leveller

Tracy Island by Fender5

London Mayor Boris “Rupert” Johnson is considering building an artificial island in the Thames Estuary as an answer to overcrowding at Heathrow Airport.

The previous proposal to build a new airport at Cliffe in Kent was rejected due to environmental concerns and the fact that the area is a major winter roost for seabirds the danger to aircraft taking off and landing was decided to be far too hazardous, and was even advised against by BAA.

Perhaps the idea of aircraft falling out of the sky onto the people of Sheppey rather than Cliffe isn’t so bad an idea, Cliffe is after all only just across the river from East Tilbury, and well Sheppey is Sheppey.

The US Federal Reserve bails out AIG with almost $100,000,000,000 as its stock value crumbles. But what has brought this giant of insurance down? The answer appears to be that the value of AIG’s investments known as Credit Default Swaps (CDS), apparently these are supposed to be a form of insurance policy (AIG’s business is insurance) against bad debt.

At the end of last year concerns were being expressed that the value of these insurances were grossly overestimated resulting in a write down of $4.88 billion.

It seems that not only was AIG’s insurance risk assessment lacking but their Crisis Management Services just wasn’t up to the job either.

Over the last couple of decades companies like AIG have charged huge fees, and paid themselves massive bonuses, for advising on, and selling derivative investments like Credit Default Swaps.

Today many suspect these derivatives are worthless.

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